Joe* has always dreamt of having a big widescreen television, but struggles to save money.

With support from his Dosh financial advocate, he completed a budget and was able to save some money each week

He saved enough to buy the television. His Dosh financial advocate also applied for a concessionary TV licence for him for £7.50 per year, rather than £145.50.

Now Joe has told his financial advocate about his love for horses. His advocate is helping him to start helping out at a local stable.

Joe is very happy because, he has been able to achieve 2 of his big wishes with his support from Dosh. He can now use his money to do the things he wants.

A big benefit payment

When we began supporting Emma* in the summer of 2015, she was on the minimum amount of Employment Support Allowance (ESA). She was struggling to make ends meet.

After receiving support from Dosh, we were able to arrange a new assessment by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Following a medical assessment, Emma was put onto the main rate of income-related ESA. This meant she was able to apply for the severe disability premium, which meant she had more than £100 extra per week.

And that’s not all. For the time she was being underpaid her ESA entitlement, she was awarded a back-payment of over £6,000!

Emma is very happy with the support she has had from Dosh, as she can now afford to buy and do things she could not before.

She has bought a new sofa and armchair with some of the back-payment money. It is the first time she has been able to spend money on something nice just for her.

She also now has more money each week to buy some new clothes for herself and presents for her family.

Using the Money Plan Game

One lady we support, Lucy* has become more independent in supported living, and wanted to save for another holiday.

Some of her family suggested she should stay in the UK, but she wanted to go somewhere hot. She was supported to look at options and picked Turkey and France.

Her Dosh financial advocate used the money plan game to show Lucy how much she had in savings. This helped her understand how much the holidays would cost and how it would affect her savings.

This allowed her to make her own decisions about her holidays, giving her more control over her money and her life.

She has just got back from her holiday and loved it. She did lots of fun activities and enjoyed relaxing in the sun.

The money plan game has also helped her to start saving more money each week for holidays in the future.

If you would like us to support you to achieve your dreams and do the things you enjoy you can get in touch. We would love to speak to you about how we can help.